The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress crossed swords over the U.S. ending its post-Gujarat riots hands-off policy towards Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Asked about the Ambassador Nancy Powell-Modi meeting in Gandhinagar on Thursday, External Affairs Minister Mr. Khurshid said: “Did we celebrate that he did not get a visa? Are we going to be depressed that he got the visa?”
But the U.S. Embassy made no mention of the visa issue as being among the topics of discussion between Ms. Powell and the BJP prime ministerial candidate.
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Nevertheless, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said Mr. Khurshid’s observation suggested “arrogance.” The party viewed the meeting as part of a diplomatic routine.
Mr. Jaitley pointed out that Mr. Modi had “convincingly” won the Assembly elections three times. “The earlier decision of some countries not to deal with him was a failure of India’s foreign policy,” he added.
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On the U.S. change of tack, Mr. Jaitley said: “The decision appears to be based on its suo motu assessment of the domestic situation in India. The earlier decision did not appear to be based on any cogent evidence or court verdicts. It was based on excessive propaganda in the media and elsewhere by certain NGOs.”